After suffering an injury in Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons, starting strong safety Julian Blackmon of the Indianapolis Colts has been placed on injured reserve.

On Christmas Eve, the Indianapolis Colts were humiliated 29-10 by Arthur Smith’s Atlanta Falcons. But during the competition, something worse than a defeat occurred.

Julian Blackmon, the starting strong safety for the Colts, injured his shoulder after an attempted tackle of Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson. He did not come back. His regular season is now over, but James Boyd of The Athletic reports that he might make a comeback in the postseason.

The Colts announced the following update regarding X: We have put S. Julian Blackmon on injured reserve and added S. Henry Black to the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad.

Over his four NFL seasons (all with the Colts), Blackmon enjoyed the best year of his career. Blackmon is placed on injured reserve at the end of the regular season, regardless of whether the Colts advance to the playoffs.

He’ll have a strong final stat line. Some of the stats are shown below.

15 games (all starts); 88 stops (5 with 5 sacks); 8 interceptions; and 8 passes defended. (Every career peak)

In the middle of this scenario, the Colts signed veteran Steelers safety Henry Black off of the practice squad to provide much-needed depth. Black has significant NFL experience; during the 2021 season, he participated in all 17 games with the Green Bay Packers, recording 38 tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and two passes defensed.

Despite Blackmon’s injury, Black may still not see a lot of playing time despite being a safety or cornerback in Gus Bradley’s defence.

While Blackmon heals, Nick Cross is probably going to step in and fill his large shoes. As the Colts wrap out the regular season and, if Indianapolis manages to make it to the postseason, look for Cross and Rodney Thomas II to start at safety.